


Going For Gold (ALTERNATE)

by Browneyesparker



Series: Going For Gold [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 17:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13862055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: Jughead and Betty as figure skating partners, except they've been together since childhood.





	Going For Gold (ALTERNATE)

.

**.**

**Chapter 1**

Jughead Jones was running late.

Betty Cooper sighed impatiently and checked her wrist watch again. He’d been her partner since they were children but since they were reaching their expiration date on the competition circuit, she’d agreed to let him take a couple of college courses to have something to fall back on. She wished she had stipulated that he would have to wait until after the winter games. Her Olympic dreams were being crushed because he couldn’t show up for a 5am practice.

He’d probably been up late reading Faust or working on a paper about Charles Dickens’s use of food in his novels.

She skated over to the barrier and picked up her phone.

_Jughead Jones, you better get your ass over to the rink RIGHT NOW!!!_

_I’m on my way!_ He texted back.

Betty sighed again and put her cell back down. Other skaters were starting to trickle into the rink and take over the ice.

She felt a pang of irritation with her partner. He knew the competition tended to psych her out and that’s why the practiced on their own and earlier than the others when they were doing preliminaries or were at the Olympics.

“Sorry I’m late!” Jughead said as he rushed in and toed off his Converse sneakers one at a time. His dark hair was all over the place, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he was wearing his wire-rimmed glasses.

Betty crossed her arms. “You look terrible! Did you even go to bed last night?”

“I was studying!” Jughead answered defensively. “I have to take a test this afternoon. I’m not Archie, you know!”

He was referring to their fellow Olympian Archie Andrews. He played hockey for the American team and had somewhat of a playboy reputation.

“We have our first skate tonight,” Betty reminded him. “Remember? We got picked out of all the pairs to skate for the team event.”

“That’s tonight!?” Jughead laughed when he saw Betty’s face. He laced up his skates. “I’m kidding! My prof is letting me take it early enough so I can be there.”

Betty smoothed away imaginary fly aways. “You should have waited until the Olympics were done to start school.”

“I’ve put it on hold for _7_ years! Just relax! Enjoy yourself!” Jughead leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “We’re the best!”

“Don’t be cocky!” Betty chided. “It’s not like we’re favorites to win gold or anything.”

Jughead skated a circle around her. “But we’re here! _And_ we are fan favorites!”

Betty cringed. They were certainly fan favorites and social media darlings. They even had their own hashtag (Team Bughead) and everyone was always trying to guess the status of their relationship based off Instagram stories and Jughead’s photography. A side hobby that he enjoyed almost as much as figure skating.

The truth was. . . they were best friends with electric chemistry on the ice. Betty guessed she would wonder too, if she was just a casual observer.

“Let’s just practice,” Betty said. “We’re wasting time.”

Their rehearsal was perfectly executed but Betty still wasn’t sure it was good enough to win when they were measured up against the Canadian favorites Cheryl and Jason Blossom.

“You’re both looking great out there!” Her mother called out. “If you skate like that tonight, you could clinch first place for us in the team event!”

Betty’s stomach clenched when she thought about the pressure she’d be under to make sure they would even end up on the podium. Alice Cooper, their life-long coach, had definitely loosened up over the past few years. She still expected them to give their very best whenever they competed but she no longer pushed them too hard or to the point of exhaustion.

“Thanks Coach!” Jughead answered, he turned to Betty. “Ready to go and get some breakfast?”

“Go ahead and eat!” Alice urged. “You need to eat at least two well-balanced meals before your round. We can’t have you passing out on us.”

She didn’t say _like last time_ but Betty could hear her thinking it. The last time they had been in the Olympics, she had lost consciousness when Jughead had dipped her. It had been live and captured on camera, a Youtube hit for as long as the Internet was up and running.

“I’ll feed her!” Jughead assured Alice as he slung his arm around Betty’s shoulder. “Come on Coop, let’s go and rustle up some grub. I’m starving! Not only was I up late studying, I missed dinner last night.”

**.**

They ate breakfast in the hotel dining room. Jughead loaded up on carbs, sugar, and grease while Betty picked at a blueberry bagel, fruit salad, and a goat cheese omelet.

“Feeling confident?” Jughead asked.

“I’d be more confident if you weren’t treating this like it’s a game,” Betty answered before taking a long sip of her black iced coffee.

“But it is a game,” Jughead reminded her, raising an eyebrow and running a French toast stick through a pool of  maple syrup. “It’s literally called the winter _games_.”

Betty rolled her eyes and Jughead unloaded some of his French fries onto her plate.

“I don’t want those,” she told him.

“You have to eat, it’ll improve your mood,” Jughead said.

“The only reason I’m in a bad mood is because you couldn’t be bothered to show up for practice when I asked you to be there.”

“I think you need to loosen your ponytail,” Jughead teased. “You’re more uptight than Alice usually is. What’s going on with you today?”

“You were late for practice,” Betty answered.

 _“There are worse things I could do,”_ Jughead warbled out causing her to chuck a grape at his nose.

“This isn’t a joke, Forsythe! We have to compete tonight!”

“Ouch, I must be in trouble. You used my real name!” Jughead pretended to wince. “Listen, I know we have to compete tonight. I can hear you, you know.”

“Are you sure? Your head has been buried so far in a textbook lately and then you’ve been preoccupied with your study buddy.”

Jughead choked on his coffee. “Toni? You’re jealous of _Toni_?”

“Jealous? That’s not exactly the word I’d use to describe my feelings towards her,” Betty answered. “I’m _concerned_ that she’s distracting you.”

“Trust me, Toni is _not_ a distraction!” Jughead assured her. “I mean if you’re worried she’s a distraction like _that_ , there’s nothing for you to be uneasy about. She likes girls better than she likes boys. She thinks I need to spend more time studying than skating but that is the only way she’s even tried to divert my attention. She pushes me to be the best student possible. Just like _you_ push me to be the best skater that I possibly can.”

“I just. . . I don’t want it to end,” Betty finally admitted.

“It isn’t the end yet!” Jughead said as he stood up and threw some money on the table before grabbing some bacon. “I have to go and grab a nap before I take my test. Eat something Elizabeth! I’ll see you later!”

Betty sighed and drummed her fingers on the table, deflating slightly. “See you later,” she replied.

“Don’t look so glum, I’m sure you’ll place at least 4th tonight!”

“Cheryl, what do you _want_?” Betty asked, groaning when she saw the tall redhead staring down at her.

“I just saw you sitting here by yourself and I wanted to come and say hi,” Cheryl answered as she sat down across from Betty.

Betty looked at her suspiciously. “You mean you’re not trying to psych me out?”

“Now Betty, why on earth would you make an assumption like that?”

Jughead suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “I forgot something,” he explained. “Cheryl, what rock did you crawl out from under?”

Cheryl made a face at him. “Aren’t you two the cutest? I just came to say hi and wish you luck. Good luck, I’m sure 5th place will look so good on the both of you.”

Listen, you bottom dweller, we’d appreciate it if you would just leave us alone!” Jughead said. “Put your money where your mouth is and skate a good show tonight instead of hassling us off of the ice.”

Cheryl huffed. “Fine, I’m gone! But you better watch it!”

She was all trash talk though, Cheryl was their biggest rival but she had never gone out of her way to sabotage them or their chances of winning. She didn’t fight fair, her tongue was probably the sharpest on the skating circuit but she would never actually hurt anyone.

No one wanted to be saddled with Tonya Harding’s reputation for the rest of their lives.

“Are you okay?” Jughead asked. “You didn’t let her get in your head, did you?”

Betty played with her with the silver figure skating pendant on her necklace. “Cheryl was just being Cheryl. What made you come back?”

“I saw her come in,” Jughead replied. “I know how she gets to you and I saw you weren’t eating. So, I decided to come and box up your food and take you with me. Tonight’s a big night, you need to be fueled and rested.”

Betty sighed. “You are so good to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Juggie.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Jughead assured her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

**TBC. . . (maybe)**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate idea that I want to have ready. Tell me what you think!


End file.
